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Many people might be surprised to learn that making your own homemade cereal is well worth your time! The reason is that boxed breakfast cereals are some of the most toxic, unhealthy foods you can possibly buy!
What’s more – believe it or not – organic cereal brands and whole grain cereals are the absolute worst!
The reason is that the violent processing required to make boxed cereal (called extrusion) is so high in temperature and pressure that the proteins in the grains are completely denatured and rendered toxic from the ordeal. Organic boxed cereal is the worst of all because it is whole grain and therefore higher in protein. (source)
Ever wondered how all those shapes and flakes are made? The cereal grains are actually liquefied in order to create the slurry necessary to create the desired form. This destroys the integrity of the grains making them difficult to digest and toxic for the body too.
So don’t be fooled by boxed cereals that only have a few ingredients. The ingredients label tells you nothing about the dangerous processing that occurred to produce the cereal!
Toxic foods are frequently the most addictive (think MSG and aspartame/nutrasweet), so even though it is difficult, you simply must eliminate these foods from your pantry for good! Cold breakfast cereals are some of the most addicting processed foods on the market in fact.
I just cringe when I see parents giving their toddlers Cheerios and other boxed cereals as finger foods. If these parents only knew how toxic these foods are, perhaps they would think twice about handing it out so freely to their children.
The good news is that you can make a very delicious, healthy alternative yourself at home!
How to Make Breakfast Cereal (How-to Videos)
The first video below demonstrates how to make and bake the breakfast cereal batter. The second video shows you how to crumble it into bite size pieces and gently dehydrate for the satisfying crunch in a bowl with milk!
The written recipe follows 🙂
If you would like to know how to make this cereal Paleo, here is a homemade grain free cereal recipe to try instead.
Homemade Breakfast Cereal Recipe
Recipe for how to make cold breakfast cereal so that you can avoid the toxic, overly processed boxed versions at the store. Organic cereal isn’t any better!
Ingredients
- 6 cups flour preferably freshly ground for optimal nutrition
- 3 cups whole yogurt plain
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup maple syrup dark, preferably organic
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
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Mix fresh flour and soaking medium of choice in a large, glass bowl. Cover with a clean cloth and rubber band and leave on the counter for 24 hours.
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Mix all the remaining ingredients including fresh cinnamon into the batter after soaking is complete.
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Pour into 2 – 9×13 pans and bake at 350 F/ 177 C for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Do not overbake!
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Let cool and crumble the coffee cake into small pieces (see second video above for ideal size) and dehydrate on cookie sheets at 200 F/ 93 C for about 12-18 hours. Turn cereal pieces every few hours to dry evenly.
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Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
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Serve alone as a finger food snack or in a bowl with either dairy or nondairy milk.
Recipe Notes
Substitute whole milk kefir, buttermilk, or clabbered milk for yogurt if desired.
For dairy free cereal, use 3 cups water plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice or store bought or homemade apple cider vinegar.
Substitute date syrup for the maple syrup if you wish to sweeten only with fruit. Do not substitute honey as cooking honey is not healthy.
More healthy breakfast cereal ideas
I just love your site! I have learned so much from you. So, I was thinking of making breakfast cereal/granola from sprouted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut and goji berries with no oats. Do you think that’ll be easily digestible?
Hi Sarah! So, I’m sensitive to gluten and am on the GAPS diet. Can I use almond or coconut flour for this instead?
What do you think about “Ancient Grains’ Granola with Almonds by Natures Path Organic?
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve been making it for almost a year and my family loves it.
The daycare where my son goes provides 2 snacks a day for the children. I send an alternate real food snack for my son and try to make it as close as possible to what the daycare is serving so my son still feels like he’s eating what everyone else is eating. Their snack rotation includes life cereal once a week and cheerios once a week. This recipe has been a life saver. I’m so glad I can make healthy cold cereal at home to send with him as an alternative to those processed cereals. Thank you!
I ground my flour a little to course but I thought it would still work. but after I mix the ingredients in it wasn’t gluey like yours. I added a little more kefir (used clabbered milk to soak it) after all the ingredients and it seemed to be a little better but still not very gluey at all. does that mean it didn’t soak properly? it did seem pretty dry when I opened it to put in the ingredients. But I did the exact milk to flour for soaking that you said so I thought that was how it was supposed to be. Is it going to work do you think?
How about Ezekiel sprouted cold cereal (boxed) which is sprouted then baked?
Do you think it is OK?
Made a 1/2 batch to give it a try last night. By this morning, the cereal was “done” and my daughter LOVED it. She said “Forget the other stuff, I want this!” and is on her second bowl. The “other stuff” is organic oats cereal…looks like we’ll be finishing up the “other stuff” and making this instead!! Thanks for the recipe.
I see a lot of people (GAPS, etc.) are substituting almond flour and I always thought the oils in almonds were too delicate to be exposed to high heat without turning rancid. Is baking with almond flour ok?
Also, does anyone have a good brand for the maple extract? I was disappointed to see that the Frontier brand has soy, and contains no real maple at all.